Kathmandu, June 19

A two-day joint steering committee (JSC) meeting on energy cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh kicked off in Dhaka from today.

The second JSC meeting is expected to discuss enhancing energy trade and investment between the two countries.

The second meeting between the respective authorities of the two countries is underway after Nepal and Bangladesh inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation in August last year in Kathmandu.

The first meeting was held in Nepal.

A seven-member team of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI) is participating in the JSC meeting. MoE- WRI Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire is leading the Nepali delegation.

The Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh is heading the delegation from Bangladesh.

Nepal and Bangladesh have been eyeing to enhance energy cooperation, especially after the Power Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed with India in 2014.

The two countries have already agreed to focus on electricity generation, development of hydroelectricity, cross-border transmission lines, development of efficient human resources in the hydroelectric sector, promotion of government-to-government and private sector investments, grid connectivity, power efficiency and investment in renewable energy, among others.

“These are the issues that will be discussed in the meeting,” informed Prabin Aryal, joint secretary at the ministry.

Aryal further informed that the meeting will look into ways of capitalising on plans and provisions of the bilateral understanding on energy trade and investment. According to the ministry, the meeting will discuss ways to enhance cross-border energy cooperation and promote investment in the hydropower sector of the two nations.

Following the MoU, a secretary-level JSC and joint secretary-level joint working group (JWG) had been formed to capitalise on the provisions.

As per the agreement, these committees will have to meet every year and discuss and take forward the issues related to cooperation in the power sector between the two nations.

As per Aryal, the main agenda of the meeting will be to discuss a dedicated high voltage double circuit transmission line that will need to be installed to supply Nepal’s electricity through India to Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi government has already committed to buy 500 megawatts of energy produced by the Upper Karnali hydropower project, which is being developed by India-based GMR. Moreover, Bangladesh has expressed interest to buy 9,000 MW of electricity from Nepal by 2040.